High school football scores, roundup: Sumner beats Graham-Kapowsin, wins 4A SPSL title
Results, recaps and more from Week 9 high school football contests around the South Sound will be posted on this page Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Looking for local scores? Find them at the bottom of this story.
FRIDAY’S RESULTS (NOV. 1)
SUMNER 23, GRAHAM-KAPOWSIN 11
It took a while for Sumner’s offense to get going in the 4A SPSL football championship game against the visiting Graham-Kapowsin Eagles at Sunset Chev Stadium on Friday night.
But the way Keith Ross’ Sumner defense has been playing, the Spartans had all the time they needed to figure things out.
It was another lights out, suffocating performance from a defense that has proved itself as one of the state’s elite this fall. And for as much promise as Graham-Kapowsin freshman quarterback AJ Tuivaiave has shown this year, it was going to take a herculean effort to beat this year’s Sumner group in the valley in his first go-round.
Tied 3-3 at half, Sumner’s defense forced three interceptions and started punching the ball into the end zone in the second half, walking away with a 23-11 win and the league championship, delivering on the preseason hype and expectations surrounding the program.
“It means a lot, man,” said Sumner corner Jayden Benson, who intercepted a pair of passes in the win. “We’ve worked so hard this year, everybody just buying in, doing their job and it just finally paid off. It means so much.”
Sumner running back Steele Isaacs rushed for all three of Sumner’s touchdowns and the offense started to click after Sumner fed the ball to senior tight end Carter Cocke, a Montana State commit.
“Our offense revolves around (Cocke),” Ross said. “He does everything for us. At halftime, we just felt like we hadn’t gotten him the ball enough, so we did make a concerted effort to get our best player the ball.”
Isaacs was all smiles after finding the end zone three times.
“I love taking hits, I love giving hits,” he said. “This is just the best feeling in the world. That scoreboard just fills me with euphoria.”
The game became chippy after a hit on Tuivaiave in the first quarter. He took off running and when two Sumner defenders were closing in, went to slide. One of the Sumner defenders made helmet-to-helmet contact with Tuivaiave after he slid.
Coaches from both sidelines shouted at each other after the play and the barking continued late into the game. G-K coach Jeff Logan said he felt it was a cheap shot.
“I love Keith and those kids get coached to play hard and I would never blame anybody,” Logan said. “But that kid goes down with the crown of his helmet down and yeah it’s late but what’s the first thing you always get taught in tackling? It’s to keep your head up. That’s a dangerous play.”
Sumner coach Keith Ross argued with the referee that Tuivaiave went into his slide late, not giving the Sumner defenders a chance to let up.
“I told Jeff, I said, ‘Listen to me, you cannot be mad at us for that hit,’” Ross said. “He’s a big 6-3, 225 pound kid that’s running full speed and he slid late. And we’re not gonna stand there and let him keep running. I told our kids, do not hit him if he slides, but do not be afraid to hit him.
“These sliding quarterbacks, the defenders don’t know when they’re going to go down. I thought he slid really late, we were already in our tackle. I haven’t seen it on film. It was not malicious or cheap. We’re playing football against a kid that’s really, really good.”
Graham-Kapowsin’s best opportunity at stealing momentum came early in the third quarter. Defensive back DJ Ta’ape intercepted a Nate Donovan pass and returned it for what looked like a touchdown, but fumbled into the end zone and out of bounds, giving Sumner a touchback and the ball back. On the very next play, Ta’ape intercepted Donovan again, but the play didn’t count because of a hands-to-the-face penalty on a Graham-Kapowsin defensive lineman.
“You can never fault a kid for trying to make a play,” Logan said. “DJ makes an incredible play, trying to get into the end zone. You can’t fault him. He gets a pick on the very next play. It’s just unfortunate. … That’s football sometimes.”
Sumner remains undefeated against in-state teams, the lone loss coming on the road against Oregon’s West Linn, considered by many the best team in the Pacific Northwest this season. The Spartans will likely take the No. 2 overall seed into the playoffs next week (undefeated Camas is the favorite to land the top seed).
“I think defensively we’re set up for a great run in the playoffs,” Ross said. “I think our offense is explosive enough that we can get a few explosive touchdowns and maybe win 17-10. We’re in the playoffs now. We’re not looking for stats, we’re not looking for 40 point games, we’re looking to win.”
MOUNT TAHOMA 40, LAKES 37 (OT)
Elijah Durr wasn’t letting another fourth-quarter lead slip away.
Catchless through regulation, Mount Tahoma’s star receiver saved his best for last.
Durr dashed upfield for a deep curl route in overtime, cut inside of double coverage and secured QB Mikkah Cordero’s game-winning touchdown pass from 14 yards. An impressive, well-placed throw — and an even better catch.
The visting T-Birds erupted into frenzy as some Lancers, fresh off 24 unanswered points to send Friday night’s classic into added time, doubled over in shock. Lakes had nearly completed a monumental comeback, grabbing their first lead with kicker Chris Cosio’s 38-yard, overtime field goal — but it was Durr and Mount Tahoma that struck paydirt on a cold, clear night in Lakewood.
“I just knew I had to get that,” Durr told The News Tribune. “I wasn’t going to lose again. OT, like (the Lincoln game). I had to have that drive and that mentality to finish the game.
“And that’s why it’s on my chest. No. 1 for a reason.”
RB Jonny Comoza erupted for 133 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, Mount Tahoma’s front seven stifled a typically-efficient Lancers run game early on, and Durr’s catch lifted the T-Birds over undefeated-Lakes in a thriller at Harry E. Lang Stadium, 40-37.
Undefeated no more.
Mount Tahoma led by 21 points on separate occasions – 27-6 late in the second quarter and 34-13 late in the third – before a Lancers comeback that fell just short.
“We talked about that at halftime,” Mount Tahoma head coach Keith Terry said. “We know Lakes is not a team that’s going to tap out. They’re a really well-coached team, a really talented team. For us, we knew the storm was going to come.
“But we’ve run into this already.”
It’s why Durr was so adamant Friday night could not, would not go to waste. On Sept. 26, Mount Tahoma let their 20-0, fourth-quarter lead slip away in a one-point loss at Central Kitsap. A week later, the T-Birds pushed crosstown rival Lincoln to overtime before falling, 38-32.
It nearly happened again when Lakes rallied for 21 points in the game’s final 14 minutes, aided by avoidable T-Birds personal fouls and taunting calls. Lancers WR Exavier McChristian caught a pair of second-half touchdowns from QB Willie Nash, and with just 15 seconds left in regulation, Lakes RB Michael Pulalasi punched in the game-tying score from one yard on 4th and Goal.
“Our motto is, ‘What’s going to break us?’ And it can’t be us,” Terry said. “We’ve got to find a way to dig deep and get through. … We didn’t let (self-inflicted wounds) break us.”
Durr paced the sideline throughout the second half repeating the phrase: “We’re not losing again. It won’t happen again.”
After Lakes went three-and-out on their opening drive, Mount Tahoma freshman Briytan Bailed cut outside and dashed 61 yards for a punt-return touchdown — an instant spark before Cordero and the offense could touch the football.
Comoza scored twice in the second quarter, the latter an 86-yard burst after shedding a tackler near midfield. And it was his best game of the season by far, besting a season-high 71 rushing yards in a blowout over Silas last weekend.
“(Jonny) gives us that 1-2 punch at running back that’s a little bit different for (opponents) to prepare for,” Terry said. “What he gives us is elite speed. Felix (Diaz) is going to be more shifty. He has the capability to break runs. But Jonny is a home-run hitter. He’s really coming on late into the season, and that’s what we want to see.”
Diaz took a team-high 16 carries for 116 yards and a 37-yard touchdown in the third. Cordero completed 9-of-14 passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns (no interceptions) and Durr, a Division-I cornerback recruit, snagged a second-quarter interception.
Lakes relied on a heavy dose of RB Toetu Moliga, who handled a game-high 25 carries for 150 yards. McChristian took a game-high eight receptions for 84 yards and two scores.
Both teams were already through to the postseason – but expect a shift in seeding ahead of next weekend’s Round of 32.
“We know that we can compete with the top teams in this state,” Terry said. “Now, we’re settling back into that, and this is a great confidence booster going into the playoffs.”
PUYALLUP 28, YELM 17
With little in the way of tangible benefits available, it was the intangible possibilities left to motivate two teams on Friday evening already assured of Week 10 playoff berths.
The Puyallup Vikings, who finished third in the South Puget Sound League’s North Division, and Yelm’s Tornados (second in the SPSL South) both secured their Round of 32 playoff games with Top 3 finishes in their divisions. So, what was left for these teams in the final week of the regular season crossover game?
Impressing the WIAA 4A seeding committee ahead of the start of the playoffs to secure a higher seed.
This one went to the resurgent Vikings at home in Sparks Stadium.
Once 1-4 overall, Puyallup won for the fourth straight week, 28-17, over a Tornados team that had lost just once all season – to SPSL South winner Graham-Kapowsin.
With the victory, the Vikings moved over .500 for the first time all season at 5-4 overall. Yelm fell to 7-2. Both teams will find out on Sunday who and where they will play next week.
“We’re a young group of kids,” Puyallup coach Brian Grout said. “We had to develop and we had to mature. We’ve done that. It’s not just the physical stuff. It’s the mental stuff, too. The maturity, the competitive, the discipline and the focus that really had to pick up for us.”
Puyallup held just a three-point lead at the half, but had the answers throughout. The Vikings stopped Yelm on its opening drive of the third quarter then scored themselves when Lawson Looker hauled in a 24-yard scoring pass from Luke Parker to extend the lead to 21-11 before the teams traded interceptions.
Then the defense stepped up again, stopping the Tornados on a fourth down after Yelm had driven to the Puyallup 34-yard line. Six plays later, Parker tossed to Kyson Douglas for five yards with 8:11 to play and essentially put it out of reach at 28-11.
“We’ve got a fire under us,” Douglas said. “We lost dudes along the way. But each and every one of those things is fuel. Pouring into those dudes that aren’t here, I just love these dudes.”
The Vikings made the two biggest plays of the first half, while Yelm finally got back into things by staying methodical in approach.
Held to a 3-and-out on the game’s first possession, Puyallup punted. Yelm didn’t call for a fair catch despite a short punt, and ultimately fumbled the ball. The Vikings recovered at the Tornado 23-yard line.
One play later, Parker kept the ball from his quarterback position and covered the yardage for the game’s first score, and with 10:50 left in the first quarter, the Vikings led it 7-0. Yelm responded with a big run but its drive stalled. A 32-yard field goal from Sterling Temple cut the lead to 7-3 with 8:46 to go in the quarter.
The defenses then took over until the final five minutes of the half. That’s when Parker connected with Jayden Woodland for 94 yards to extend the Puyallup lead to 14-3 with 4:56 to go before halftime. But Yelm closed the half with a 13-play, 71-yard touchdown drive capped by Nathan Ford’s seven-yard run to get the Tornados in the endzone. The 2-point run got Yelm within a field goal at the half, 14-11.
SOUTH SOUND SCOREBOARD
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES (OCT. 30)
2A SPSL
Orting 61, Eatonville 36
Fife 30, Steilacoom 27
Franklin Pierce 52, Washington 7
THURSDAY’S GAMES (OCT. 31)
Non-league
Decatur 54, Todd Beamer 0
Bonney Lake 28, Rogers 22
3A PSL
Silas 10, Timberline 7
2A SPSL
Clover Park 21, Foss 8
FRIDAY’S GAMES (NOV. 1)
4A SPSL
Sumner 23, Graham-Kapowsin 11
Puyallup 28, Yelm 17
Curtis 24, Bethel 20
Spanaway Lake 34, South Kitsap 21
Emerald Ridge 27, Olympia 13
4A NPSL
Tahoma 17, Stadium 15
Auburn 21, Auburn Riverside 20
Kennedy Catholic 62, Mount Rainier 11
Kentwood 42, Kentridge 0
3A PSL
Bellarmine Prep 30, River Ridge 14
Capital 15, Gig Harbor 13
Central Kitsap 45, North Thurston 7
Mount Tahoma 40, Lakes 37 (OT)
Lincoln 32, Peninsula 21
3A NPSL
Kent-Meridian 36, Kentlake 21
Enumclaw 41, White River 13
Federal Way 65, Thomas Jefferson 0
2A EVCO
Tumwater 49, Centralia 0
W.F. West 57, Black Hills 7
1A NISQUALLY
Annie Wright 13, Kingston 12
Non-league
Auburn 21, Auburn Riverside 20
Federal Way 65, Thomas Jefferson 0
Bainbridge 43, Auburn Mountainview 13
Aberdeen 22, Tenino 7
This story was originally published November 1, 2024 at 11:25 PM with the headline "High school football scores, roundup: Sumner beats Graham-Kapowsin, wins 4A SPSL title."
